'Meet the Press' transcript for June 1, 2008

And we're now turning to Senator Tom Daschle, representing the Obama campaign. After the events of yesterday, Barack Obama is 62.5 delegates away from locking up the nomination with the new total necessary, 2118.  Assuming he gets half of the delegates of Montana, South Dakota, Puerto Rico, with proportional allocation, he would need about 20 superdelegates.  You've been leading the fight to secure the superdelegates.  Will you have those 20 in hand by Wednesday morning?

FMR. SEN. TOM DASCHLE (D-SD):  Well, Tim, we're not making any predictions with regard to schedule, but I think we're going to have a nominee before the end of this week.  I don't think there's any question.  A large number of superdelegates were holding back, waiting until the last vote was counted, and then they're going to step forward.  I've had many, many conversations.  I, I, I, I am quite confident that you're going to see a--an overwhelming number of superdelegates declare this week.

MR. RUSSERT:  For Barack Obama?

SEN. DASCHLE:  Well, they're going to declare, and we assume that, that the vast majority of them will be for Barack Obama.

MR. RUSSERT:  Hillary Clinton's ad:  "Seventeen million Americans have voted for Hillary Clinton, more than any other primary candidate in history." Do you agree with that?

SEN. DASCHLE:  Well, you know, it's time to put that behind us, Tim.  It really is.  I think we've got to start looking at what really is going to matter, and that is who and how can we prepare well for the general election? We've got five months.  In my view, we're already behind schedule in that regard.

I think it's great that every state and every territory's had a chance to participate.  That's the strength of what we've done.  And I think it is historic, and I think we ought to be excited about it.  The downside is that we have had a Republican nominee now for the last couple of months who's been out there doing whatever he wants to do without any real opportunity for us to push back.  We've got to start focusing now on the, the general election, and we're going to do that.

MR. RUSSERT:  But Senator Obama has some problems.  Here's the headline in Politico:  "White Women Cold Towards Obama.  Barack Obama's favorability ratings among white women has declined significantly in recent months, particularly among Democrats and independents, presenting an immediate obstacle for the likely Democratic nominee as he moves to shore up" the nomination, "party's base." According to a new report of Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, half of white women now have a negative perception of Obama.

"Forty-nine percent of white women view Obama unfavorably, while only 43 percent hold a favorable opinion.  In February, 36 percent of these women viewed Obama unfavorably, while 56 percent had a positive perception." Can't Hillary Clinton help Obama with those white women, and would he consider taking her on the ticket to unify the party?

SEN. DASCHLE:  Well, first of all, I don't want to distinguish between white women and other women.  I think all women have a huge role to play in this election.  And I have a lot of very close personal friends who were engaged in this--in the Hillary Clinton campaign from the beginning.  They feel deeply. Hillary represented the, the--an extraordinary candidacy.  And, and the fact that she could have been the first woman nominee has enormous impact with, with a lot of people, including men.  But we recognize we've got to do a real intense job of reaching out and connecting and working with women across this country, and we're going to do that.

MR. RUSSERT:  But to make Mr. Ickes' point, Senator Clinton runs much better against John McCain in Florida, much better against John McCain in Ohio than does Barack Obama.  If Kerry and Gore had won Florida and Ohio, there would have been Democratic presidents in 2000 and--or 2004.

SEN. DASCHLE:  Tim, people really haven't focused on the general election yet.  As I look at the different demographic groups--and I was just giving--given new information yesterday.  As I look at the groups, it's amazing the degree to which Barack has already exceeded what his predecessors have done in past elections.  We're leading five to 20 points among women with John McCain.  We're leading in, in various demographic groups already, and this is just the beginning.  We haven't even focused on John McCain yet.  So we're looking forward to that, we're looking forward to drawing the contrast. The choice, by November, between a John McCain and a Barack Obama is going to be stark, and we look forward to pointing out the differences and expressing the real opportunity that people have to come together behind a Barack Obama presidency.

MR. RUSSERT:  In terms of trying to unify the party, it seems as if Barack Obama is haunted by preachers in Chicago.  This is Catholic priest Michael Pfleger last week at the Trinity Church, saying some things about Senator Clinton.  Let's watch.

(Videotape)

Father MICHAEL PFLEGER:  When Hillary was crying and people said that was put on, I really don't believe it was put on.  I really believe that she just always thought, "This is mine.  I'm Bill's wife, I'm white, and this is mine. I just got to get up and step into the plate." And then out of nowhere came, "Hey, I'm Barack Obama!" And she said, "Oh, damn!  Where did you come from? I'm white!  I'm entitled!  There's a black man stealing my show!" She wasn't the only one crying.  There was a whole lot of white people crying.

(End videotape)

MR. RUSSERT:  How's that going to help unify the party?

SEN. DASCHLE:  Well, it isn't, and, as you know, after a great deal of deliberation, it was partly because of an incident like this that Barack and Michelle have made the decision to resign from the church.  I think it was the right decision.  Too many times occasions like this bring people to the belief that somehow Barack shares that view.  He's made it entirely clear, as emphatically as he possibly can, he's outraged and repelled by things like this.  And the only real option he had was to resign, and I'm, I'm very pleased that he took that action.

MR. RUSSERT:  We were notified of the resignation last night, right in the middle of the whole Democratic National Committee decision on Florida and Michigan.  It looked as if they were trying to roll it out, to get caught up on a Saturday night news, get lost and not make a big story of it.

SEN. DASCHLE:  Well, Tim, this has really been a tough decision.  I mean, this is--their children were baptized, they were--they've had a long association with the church.  This did not come easy.  But you can't see stuff like this, and you can't, you can't listen to a Reverend Wright and the statements that he made and not be repulsed and not feel very strongly.  They finally came to the conclusion enough was enough.

MR. RUSSERT:  Senator Obama's relationship with Reverend Wright, those comments by Father Pfleger at Trinity Church, his comments about the bitterness of small-town America gripping onto guns and to faith has created a real problem with him in terms of perception with white voters, blue-collar voters.  He was trounced in West Virginia, trounced in Kentucky.  How does he get those voters back?  What does he have to do?  What does he have to say?

SEN. DASCHLE:  Well, first of all, I'd say that John McCain has had his own problems with religious leaders.  Reverend Hagee and Parsley have, have been equally as repulsive, in my view, in some of the things they've said.  So both candidates have had a problem associating with, with people that, that they disagree with.  But I believe that if, if you are already--if you look at what's already happening, Tim, across the board with blue-collar workers, what we saw in the last couple weeks as we've, as we've connected in South Dakota and Montana and, and, and really in, in some of the big states--Wisconsin, Missouri, Virginia--I mean, we've done very well.  I have, I have every expectation when, when the choice is made to a working family, to a blue-collar worker in November between a John McCain and a Barack Obama, they're not going to have any trouble making up their minds.

MR. RUSSERT:  Will Barack Obama win South Dakota?

SEN. DASCHLE:  It's going to be close, going to be very competitive.  The Clintons have campaigned well there.

MR. RUSSERT:  Well, you're on television with TV ads.

SEN. DASCHLE:  Well, that's no guarantee you're going to win.

MR. RUSSERT:  Is this a referendum on Tom Daschle?

SEN. DASCHLE:  I don't know what it is.  It's a real--it's an opportunity for Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, two very strong candidates, to present themselves.  South Dakotans are independent people.  I think we're going to win, but it's going to be close.

MR. RUSSERT:  Would you like to be vice president?

SEN. DASCHLE:  I have no interest in being vice president.

MR. RUSSERT:  None.

SEN. DASCHLE:  None.

MR. RUSSERT:  You wouldn't accept it?

SEN. DASCHLE:  Well, that is--that's a different question.  I'm not--I haven't been asked and don't expect to be asked.

MR. RUSSERT:  But would you like to serve in government again?

SEN. DASCHLE:  That's a possibility.

MR. RUSSERT:  Chief...

SEN. DASCHLE:  But I have no--but I have absolutely no designs.  No, I've not had one conversation with anybody.

MR. RUSSERT:  How about chief--White House chief of staff?

SEN. DASCHLE:  Well, Tim, that's--that's premature.  We've got to win an election, and if I can help along the way, I'd like to do that.  But I have no design.

MR. RUSSERT:  Do you think Senator Obama's open, open to having Senator Clinton on the ticket?

SEN. DASCHLE:  I think so.  He said that she'd be on anybody's short list, and I believe him.

MR. RUSSERT:  You said in February of '08 to the Argus Leader in South Dakota, "It's true that we were once close to bringing John McCain into the Democratic caucus.  There are many who can verify that." John McCain almost became a Democrat?

SEN. DASCHLE:  Never a Democrat, but an independent.  He was so angry at, at the way he was treated and the problems he had with the Bush administration in 2001, Tim, that he came to us and said, "Look, I'm seriously considering becoming an independent and caucusing with you.  Let's talk about it." And we did.

MR. RUSSERT:  Aligning himself with the Democrats in the Senate?

SEN. DASCHLE:  Exactly.

MR. RUSSERT:  Then how can you run against him as a Bush third term?

SEN. DASCHLE:  Well, because, in the course of that period from 2001 to 2008, that's exactly what's happened.  He's become a very ideologic advocate for the Bush policies on Iraq, on the economy, on tax policy, on domestic policy. Across the board he is espousing the Bush policies.  He's changed a lot since 2001.

MR. RUSSERT:  Why?

SEN. DASCHLE:  Well, I think because he felt he needed to do that to win the nomination.

MR. RUSSERT:  On Wednesday or Tuesday night, if Barack Obama has the 2,118 votes in--delegates in his pocket, will he say, "I am going to be the nominee"?

SEN. DASCHLE:  I don't think--I think we're going to have to wait and see just how this plays out.  We, as I said, we fully expect superdelegates to come forward.  I think you're going to see, at the end of this week, a definitive moment where, where he will have surpassed that number.  How he addresses the circumstances depends on, on the circumstances.

MR. RUSSERT:  Will we see Senator Obama and Senator Clinton embrace this week?

SEN. DASCHLE:  I think that we're going to see Senator Clinton and Senator Obama embrace.  I don't know when that will be.  It could be this week, it could be next week.  There's going to be a unified Democratic Party, Tim, you can count on it.

MR. RUSSERT:  We'll be watching.  Senator Tom Daschle, thank you for joining us and sharing your views.

And we'll be right back.

(Announcements)

MR. RUSSERT:  That's all for today.  Watch MSNBC this afternoon for results of the Puerto Rico Democratic primary, Keith Olbermann, Chris Matthews.  And then all day Tuesday, continuing coverage of the Montana and South Dakota primaries.

We'll be back next week.  If it's Sunday, it is MEET THE PRESS.

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